GENETIC TERRORISM
by ULYFERAL
Summary: A crazed scientist develops a way to send Kats back to their genetic roots with horrifying results.
1. Chapter 1

**GENETIC TERRORISM**

Chapter 1: Collecting Samples

_Outside the city limits...near sunset..._

An old farmhouse sits sadly between two very old oak trees. The barn in back barely stands as weathered wood surrenders to the hands of time. High weeds surround the place and an old For Sale sign hangs by one hook on its stand some distance from the house. The house itself was still sturdy though it badly needed painting and the steps leading up to the door were rotten and dangerous to trod upon. The back door, fortunately, had cement steps that were still intact. Faded curtains hung in the windows. It appeared to have been abandoned to its fate years ago...no sign of habitation could be seen.

But it wasn't empty. Someone had slipped inside and was now living hidden within. Alfred Jenler was bitter and vengeance driven. He'd once been an up and coming scientist in the field of genetics until one day he'd tried to convince his colleagues to allow him to research a radical idea.

At first, they politely listened to his impassioned words about his pet project but no one was willing to endorse it siting the cost and the inherent wrongness of doing something like this. He continued for months trying to convince anyone that would listen to fund his project but no one was going to stick their neck out in such dangerous territory.

So Jenler worked on his project on his own with funds from an inheritance. His fellow scientists became alarmed when they learned he was actually conducting experiments and ordered him to stop. They grew concerned at what they could perceive had become an obsession. When he refused to cease his research, he was finally fired from his position at the university and blackballed from the Association of Geneticist.

Cursing them for what he perceived as short-sightedness, Jenler continued on with his project in his home. He very quickly ran through the money from his inheritance then was forced to sell his home to gather more funds. This left him with no where to work. Storing his meager belongings but keeping his precious research with him in his car, he searched for a suitable place that was cheap. He accidentally came across this place and made himself to home. No one had troubled him for some months as he conducted his experiments in the basement of the house.

His initial tests were promising but it wasn't until four months later that he had a breakthrough.

"At last! I've unlocked the key!" He crowed loudly frightening his odd menagerie of creatures. The poor things no longer resembled what they had been originally. Creatures that hadn't walked the planet in centuries now hooted, screamed, and howled from their strongly built cages.

He smirked to himself in pleased triumph and vindication. The formula written on the papers he held carefully in his paw was the achievement of a lifetime. All that was left was to test the theory on a higher form of life.

"I need to prove my theory works to the public at large and the only way to do that is to use it on the big shots of this city. Then no one will deny my success. Once I've proven what I can do, then I'll get them to listen to how this can benefit Katkind. Those fools at the university will see that its not an aberration but a way to learn about the past in a more real way. It will also help open new avenues of research that will strengthen the current gene pool...making it stronger more resistant to disease." He chortled to himself.

He went to the safe he'd installed in the basement and locked his notes up tight. He fed his menagerie then took a medical bag and double checked its contents. Within were many sample tubes, an eye dropper, some strange looking liquid in a bottle, tweezers, and a notebook with pen. Smiling to himself, he took the bag upstairs and went to the room he used as a bedroom.

The windows in this room had been broken and covered over with boards. It had been perfect for hiding in. He had illegally attached a line to a distant power pole for electricity and the farm had a spring that he had tapped and made a pump to send it into the house plumbing. This made him totally self sufficient. He relaxed that evening and got a good night's sleep tomorrow would be an important day.

The next morning, he showered, took out clothes he had worn when he'd worked at the university, and carefully groomed himself so that he wouldn't look slovenly. After all, he needed to get close to his targets and looking like a harmless professor would ensure he could. Smiling coldly at his image briefly, he felt satisfied and left the house.

His car was hidden in the old barn and he used a rather rutted and barely there deer track behind it to head away from the place. He didn't move back to a real road from some distance. This way no one could tell if someone was using the place because he left no tracks.

Reaching the university where he used to work, he carefully parked his car in the visitor's area. Not calling attention to himself, he blithely walked on campus heading for the library. Walking through its doors, he noted the near absence of students and smiled slightly.

He had planned his timing well. It was too early for most students to be using the library so what he intended would not cause any mass panic. He had no intention of hurting anyone if he could help it. Slipping toward the back where an exhibit of plant life was being displayed, he pretended to be studying a few of them. In reality, he was using the eye dropper to deposit some of the fluid he had in a bottle.

After he had made a deposit on several of the plants, he unhurriedly return to the front of the library, looked at some recently arrived books for some moments then checked out an art exhibit near the check out desk before casually walking back out the front doors. He went and sat down at some benches not far away, pulled out a book from his pocket and waited.

Some thirty minutes later, screams and a rush of Kats came hurtling out of the library. On their heels were what looked like plantlike tentacles trying to grab them. Smirking to himself, Jenler got up and went behind a tree to watch.

Some ten minutes later, the enforcers arrived and overhead the roar of a jet told him the SWAT Kats had too. Rubbing his palms together in excitement, he prepared to get his samples. He waited until Commander Feral arrived and had taken charge.

In very little time, the plant creatures were subdued and Feral, with his niece, were standing on the sidewalk before the library, looks of puzzlement graced their faces. The SWAT Kats left and that was Jenlar's cue to approach the pair.

Just as he was getting close, another major player arrived. 'Perfect, now I won't have to find her.' He thought happily.

Jenler was able to get right up to Feral who didn't notice him at first.

"There's no sign Dr. Viper was ever here, Uncle, despite the presence of these plant creatures. Also there just doesn't seem to be anything he would want here." Felina was saying when he got close.

"Then why were these things here?" Feral growled in confusion.

"Uh maybe they were a prank by some students?" Lt. Commander Steele suggested earning him a glowering look from his Commander. "Hey! It's possible. This is a school." He defended himself.

Jenler smoothly got even closer. Holding one of his paws close to his body and the other resting in his pocket, he pretended to bump into Lt. Feral. Quickly he pinched the back of her palm, taking a few hairs. "Sorry!" He apologized as he stepped away from the Lieutenant who spared him barely a glance, not noticing the pinch.

He stepped back out of the way as the Deputy Mayor strode up to the three. Jenler turned his back to them and quickly stashed the hairs in a tube with her name on it and stuffed it back in his jacket pocket. No one really took note of him, the small crowd and enforcers were keeping their focus on the library.

He casually made for Ms. Brigg's sedan. No one was turned his way when he quickly opened her passenger door and leaned in. He grinned happily when he found some blond hairs on her head rest. He gathered some up, put them in another marked tube and slipped back out of the car.

Moving back to the group once more, he bided his time. He needed samples from Feral and, perhaps, he should take some from his second in command too.

"You there!" Feral barked pointing at Jenler.

"Yes sir?"

"Did you see anything unusual before these plant things took over the library?" He demanded, eyeing the slight, non-descript looking middled aged grey tom who had been hanging about nearby.

"I'm sorry sir, no I haven't. I was in the library for a bit but came out to sit and read. Nothing unusual happened." Jenler answered, innocently. As Feral sighed and began to move away, he managed to brush against Feral's paw and arm, getting a precious sample in the process.

The last party he wanted was much easier to get a sample from. Steele was frowning at the library with his back to Jenler. He stepped close and brushed a paw across the blond Kat's shoulders.

Steele turned around in angry surprise and stared at Jenler questioningly.

"Sorry sir, there was a bee on your shoulder." He said with a shrug.

Rolling his eyes and shaking his head in annoyance, Steele turned back to the matter at hand.

Jubilant with his success, Jenler walked away from the group and made for his car. He spent the next few minutes carefully documenting his capture information and securing the last samples. Finished, his precious samples safely deposited within his bag, he drove back to his hideout.

"I now have enough genetic material to set my plan in motion. Soon those four will be my object lesson to those fools at the university." He said happily as he drove down the freeway.


	2. Chapter 2

**GENETIC TERRORISM**

Chapter 2: Proving His Thesis...Illegally

_Outside the city limits..._

Ever since he'd gotten his samples, Jenler had been working feverishly extracting the DNA for each of his subjects. It was a painstaking process and took days but finally he sat staring at the four test tubes. Each held the essence of each person, now he needed to subject it to his new process to find out what these individual's ancient ancestors were centuries ago. That would take another day at least then he was ready to prove his thesis. He was fairly shaking with excitement as he took the vials and began the process.

He barely slept or ate during the next twenty-four hours. Finally, he'd had the essence of each subject's ancestoral fingerprint reduced down to a catalyst that would trigger the regression effect. Relieved and excited, Jenler locked up the precious vials in his safe and went to get something to eat and to sleep. The next day, he would set his plan in motion.

The next morning, early, he rose, showered, dressed neatly then went down to his lab. Removing from the safe his vials, he packed them carefully in a foam lined case adding syringes to administer them then closing the case tightly. Smiling, he headed back upstairs and out the back door for his car.

He drove to Megakat City Hall, parking in the public lot. He walked as if he didn't have a care in the world heading for the main entrance with dozens of other visitors to the government building. He took the elevator to the top floor and stepped out, turning to the left away from the Mayor's office and making for the restrooms.

Entering, he was glad it was presently empty. Taking a stall for privacy, he put his foot up on the seat so that he could rest his case on his knee. Opening it, he carefully picked a vial and a needle out then closed the case and set it on the floor. Taking the vial in one paw, he used his other to hold the needle. He pricked the vial's rubber top and extracted one cc of the fluid it held. He dropped the vial in his pocket, picked up his case and carefully held the loaded needle in his palm, holding it close to his side out of sight.

He left the restroom and headed back down the hall toward the Mayor's office. He entered the open door of the Deputy Mayor's office and approached her secretary's desk.

"Yes, may I help you?" The calico female dressed in a sharp business suit asked.

"Yes ma'am. I need to see Ms. Briggs on a matter of some urgency." Jenler said politely.

"Could you tell me what it is about and who you are?" She asked.

"I'm sorry the information is highly classified. I'm Professor Nedler from the Exploratory Labs at the University of Megakat City." Jenler said, lying easily.

The secretary frowned but picked up her phone and called her superior. Moments later, she hung up and looked up at the grey Kat.

"Ms. Briggs is very busy and can only spare you a few minutes, Professor. Go right in." She told.

Jenler nodded, gave her a smile then turned toward the door indicated. Opening it, he saw the Deputy Mayor at her desk that was covered with various reports. He walked up to her desk and got rather close to one side where he could reach her easily. She didn't notice his closeness as she was having an argument on the phone.

He pretended to wait patiently. He could tell whoever she was talking to was angry because he could hear the other voice. It was gruff and deep. He suspected it was Commander Feral, it rather sounded like him and seconds later his guess was confirmed.

"I don't care how much difficulty it may cause, Commander. Mayor Manx wants it done today." Ms. Briggs said flatly. An angry response poured from the phone causing a deep frown on the she-kat's face.

Suddenly, she moved forward looking for something nearest where Jenler was standing so close. Now was his moment. He quickly swept his palm with the needle forward and injected the contents into her extended arm. She blinked in surprise and looked at him. He gave her an innocent and puzzled look. She hadn't seen the needle, only felt a prick on her arm. Before she could comment, her attention was once more distracted by the voice in her ear and she picked up the file she had been reaching for, shoving the moment away, to deal with the irate Commander.

He waited a few more minutes then slowly backed to the door then left while Ms. Briggs was still arguing with the Commander. He closed her door.

"She's in a disagreement with Commander Feral. Please tell her I will call her to try and meet soon. It's important that I speak to her." Jenler told the secretary then took his leave.

As he caught an elevator and made his way back down, he felt giddy. He'd done it. His first subject was injected and it had been so easy. The message he'd given the secretary was a red herring. He had no intention of contacting Ms. Briggs again.

Now he needed to get to his next three subjects but they would be a trickier prospect. One couldn't just walk into Enforcer Headquarters. Subterfuge would not work as well on these enforcers without causing suspicion so another distraction was needed to draw them from their building and to an area of his own choosing.

He got into his car and drove to his next destination, a small software company not far from Enforcer Headquarters. He parked behind some dumpsters located to the rear of the building then took a few moments to put on his disguise. Then he prepared three more syringes and placed them carefully in his pocket. From the backseat of his car he took an odd device. It looked like nothing more than a large control box of some kind. He'd gotten the device from an old colleague some months ago.

He turned it on and aimed its small antenna toward the software company building. Some moments later, alarms could be heard wailing from within. Following on the heels of that, workers in the building poured out in a panic, crossing the street to watch nervously as the fire department and the enforcers arrived to look for the problem.

Smiling eagerly, Jenler slipped from his car and walked down the alley toward the front of the building. Peering around the corner, he saw Feral setting up a cordon then preparing to go into the building. His niece was at his heels while Lt. Commander Steele was in charge of the outside perimeter.

Jenlar's disguise allowed him to slip in among the enforcers and get very close to Steele who was pompously shouting out orders. He got close enough to inject Steele's arm before blending in with the other enforcers standing around.

Steele frowned at the sting but couldn't detect anything around him that could have caused it. Rubbing the spot unconsciously, he moved off, watching for trouble.

Seeing a group of enforcers heading inside the building, Jenler moved easily in the confusion to join them. Inside the lobby, he found Feral and his niece talking with the President of the company.

"And you don't know who or what might have set off the alarms?" Feral was asking the portly Kat.

"No sir. The day was just like any other until suddenly everything electronic went haywire." The Kat said annoyed his day had been disrupted.

"There's no sign of Hard Drive, Uncle." Lt. Feral said with a frown.

"I know! None of this makes sense." Feral fumed.

Jenler slipped up behind the Lieutenant as if he was going to join another group of enforcers heading for the elevators. He paused and injected just behind her left arm and quickly moved off.

Felina blinked at the sting and looked around but saw nothing but other enforcers doing their jobs. Shaking her head, she returned her attention to her uncle.

Feral sighed in disgust and decided there wasn't enough evidence to suggest Hard Drive had even been here. He moved to leave with Felina on his heels. He paused to give orders to Steele who had stepped inside and was looking for him. While Feral was listening to Steele's report, Jenler again slipped close using a small group of enforcers intending to leave as per Feral's orders as cover to get closer to the Commander. He succeeded moments later, injecting Feral in the back of his arm then slipping out the door.

Staying with the group that left the building, Jenler was able to put distance between himself and his 'subjects'. As soon as he was able, he split off from the group and made for his car once more. Reaching the sanctuary of his vehicle, he started the engine and left for home.

He was grinning gleefully. He'd done it! All his 'subjects' had been injected, now in only twelve hours, the city would see the fruits of his labor.

He could hardly wait!


	3. Chapter 3

**GENETIC TERRORISM**

Chapter 3: His Efforts Bear Fruit

Early the next morning, Commander Feral woke up before his alarm and rose to meet the day. He showered, shaved, and actually stopped long enough to eat breakfast. To his surprise, he'd awakened ravenous which wasn't usual for him. He got dressed and left for his office, ready to start his day.

Across the city, Ms. Briggs was taking a more leisurely time getting up. She too felt unusually hungry and made herself a rather large breakfast. As she got dressed, she paused and noticed that her fur seemed to have thickened. She frowned in her mirror in puzzlement.

'Am I just imagining that my fur looks denser and longer somehow? And what are those darker hairs on the tips of my fur?' She wondered, a small worry niggling her.

She sighed and shook her head. Maybe she'd have her hairdresser take a look and give her an opinion on it but for now, getting ready for work was more important. She had a lot to do today so shoving the unwanted concern from her mind, she grabbed her purse and briefcase and departed her apartment for city hall.

Steele and Felina lived in quarters within Enforcer Headquarters and they both were already up and leaving for duty. Both appeared at the cafeteria getting substantial breakfasts.

Felina made a point of taking a seat with some of her team mates so as not to be bothered by the second in command who seemed to think she was a way for him to climb the ranks faster. Mentally, she snorted at that and quickly made short work of her food.

She would have been surprised if she had known Steele had no thought of her this morning. He was starving and focused his entire attention in putting away a large amount of food.

Later that morning, after a trying meeting with his honor over the city budget, Callie felt a little warm and went to the restroom to wash her face. It was empty when she stepped in and went to one of the sinks. Looking in the mirror, she stopped and stared in shock.

Her face was definitely furrier and parts of it were getting darker and her hair was getting shorter. Before she could panic, that warm feeling she'd been having got stronger then her body began to shudder violently. Suddenly, she was on all fours on the floor and her body was twisting and stretching. After several long torturous minutes, what once had been the Deputy Mayor, was now a feline that hadn't walked the planet since ancient times.

Her body was powerful, long, and sleek. She had long retractable claws, her body fur was thick, tawny colored with black tips. Her tail was sleek with a black tip, black was also on the back of her unusually long ears with black furry tassels on each. Her face was lined with striking black markings, offsetting huge green eyes that now searched around its environment with fright. It didn't like the smells in this place and wanted out. Roaring anxiously, the primitive creature raced around the small room looking for an escape.

Hearing a commotion and the loud roaring, employees called security. A pair of guards arrived and made for the knot of nervous office workers and the Mayor standing not far from the female's rest room.

"I don't know what that is but you get it out of here!" Mayor Manx shouted.

"Yes sir!" One of the guards said grimly.

The pair cautiously pushed opened the restroom door and were promptly knocked down by the wild feline when it saw an escape at last. It leaped into the hall causing everyone to scatter screaming including the Mayor who raced to his office and hid under his desk.

The feline didn't like the loud screaming and tried to find a way to escape. It raced down a hall then found the stairs that led up to the clock tower.

At Enforcer Headquarters, Commander Feral had just finished a string of meetings and was trying to clear his desk of work. At nearly lunch time, he was called down to handle a problem with a VIP in lockup. By the time he'd finished that bit of nuisance, he was making for the elevator when he felt odd. Frowning, he stepped into the waiting elevator and spent the ride up to his office trying to figure out what was wrong. He reached his office but couldn't shake the feeling of something not right.

His body felt tight and strange, a feeling of warmth that was getting stronger washed over him.

As the Commander was trying to deal with his problem, elsewhere two other officers were feeling strange.

Lt. Commander Steele was finishing up the gopher work his Commander had given him this morning. He gathered the reports up, getting ready to take it to the secretarial pool for typing, when the world seemed to tilt oddly and a hot sensation washed over him.

In the ready room for pilots, Felina was pulling her flight suit on. She was alone because the rest of her patrol team had already gotten ready and were waiting for her on the flight line. Her uncle had asked her to run an errand first which had made her late going on patrol. As she hurriedly undressed, she swayed suddenly against her locker. She reached out with her paws to steady herself and stared in shock. Her paws were changing, heat raced through her body followed by sudden pain. She howled as her body twisted into a new shape.

In Steele's office, a small, powerful feline searched frantically for a way to escape the confines of this enclosed space. It roared and battered the door where it smelled fresh air.

In the Commander's office a huge, powerful creature that looked like a saber-tooth tiger paced around the room looking for a way to escape. It had already tried the windows without much success. It had just discovered the smell of fresher air under the door leading out of the office but the door was very heavy and solid and it couldn't make it budge at first.

Alarms went off everywhere in Enforcer Headquarters as reports of huge primitive felines roaming the building and creating havoc came in. The creatures were fast, deadly and cunning. So far they hadn't been able to gas, net, or corner them. At least ten enforcers had been severely clawed so far.

If that wasn't bad enough, they had received a report of another feline loose in city hall causing untold damage and terror.

Across the city at the Megakat City Salvage Yard, Jake was retrieving parts from an old car in the yard for use on a vehicle under repair. He'd just stepped into the garage again when the enforcer radio blasted out urgent calls about the problems at headquarters. Jake stood there and blinked in shock. He jerked into action when he heard city hall was having problems of their own with one of the creatures.

He set the part down on the bench and yelled for his partner. Chance had been upstairs and was just coming down when he heard his partner holler.

"What's the panic?" He asked as he hurried down and met Jake.

"Some kind of primitive cats are loose in Enforcer Headquarters and there's one in city hall. Both places are in a panic. Added to that, no one can seem to find Feral." Jake said hurriedly.

"Crud! Well what are we waiting for? Let's get going." Chance said urgently as he helped close the garage then made for their secret hangar.

"I suggest we go to city hall first. The enforcers have enough people and equipment to try and deal with the ones in their building." Jake said as he quickly dressed.

Chance just grunted in agreement as he finished dressing and ran to the jet followed by his friend. As the jet zoomed toward city hall, Razor tried to raise Callie on her communicator.

"That's odd! I can't get Callie. She should have contacted us by now with what's going on but even though I can see her communicator is at city hall, there's no response. I don't like this buddy." He said worriedly.

"Doesn't sound good to me either. At least we're here now and can find out what's going on." T-Bone said tightly as he set the Turbokat down on the clock tower landing pad. The pair jumped down and were immediately set upon by a fast moving shape with long claws and fangs.

"Look out!" Razor shouted as the two of them split apart to avoid the creatures assault.

T-Bone rolled to one side and fired his glovatrix at the creature. The gas grenade hit but took several minutes to work. The odd cat seemed to resist its effects better than a normal Kat could.

They had to avoid its charges until it finally collapsed on its side with a whine. The pair approached the creature cautiously.

"Wow! This creature has been extinct for centuries. I wonder if the Pastmaster is responsible for this." Razor said, studying the feline.

"But there's been no sign of a storm signaling his arrival." T-Bone objected with a frown.

"Yeah, I know but how do you explain this?" Razor said waving at the cat at his feet.

"We should probably find someone that can explain what's going on...Dr. Sinian perhaps?" T-Bone asked his partner.

"She might be good for a start but first we need to question everyone that saw this thing." Razor said, frowning. Let's load it aboard the jet then go down and see if we can find Callie. We have to hurry before the gas wears off."

T-Bone nodded and the pair of them carefully hauled the cat into the cargo bay of the jet. Razor secured the creature in a net so that it wouldn't try to escape if it woke up while they were gone.

They secured the cargo hold and made their way to the Mayor's office. Mayor Manx was still hiding under his desk.

Razor went around the big desk and leaned down. "Mayor Manx?"

The frightened Mayor pulled his paws down from over his face and looked up. His face showed relief as he moved to climb out from under his hiding place.

"SWAT Kats! What a relief. There's a big cat roaming the halls and..." The Mayor began.

"We've caught it, Mayor. But where is Ms. Briggs?" T-Bone asked cutting the Mayor off.

"Callie? I-I-I don't know. She was in her office the last time I saw her." Manx said, confused as to why they would be asking.

Razor and T-Bone hurried to Callie's office and found her purse still in her desk. They went out and asked other workers if they had seen the Deputy Mayor. It took more than fifteen minutes to discover the last time she had been seen was entering the restroom then loud roars had been heard coming from the room shortly after and when security came to check it out, a large feline charged out.

A suspicion began to form in Razor's mind. They entered the restroom and found pieces of Callie's clothing scattered around the room. The smaller SWAT Kat felt a stab of fear.

"Oh my God! That cat is Callie!" He hissed at his partner.

"What?!" T-Bone blurted.

"What other explanation can you give for finding her clothing shredded, her being the only one going in here then a strange primitive cat coming out?" Razor said tightly.

"Ah Crud! How could this have happened?" T-Bone said worriedly.

"I don't know buddy but we're the only ones who suspect what's happened. We better get to Enforcer Headquarters. If what happened to Callie happened to Feral..." Razor said in concern.

"What a mess. We'd better hurry then." T-Bone said as the pair hurried out and made for the their jet on the roof.

Fortunately, the cat in the cargo hold was still out, much to Razor's relief when he quickly checked before getting into his seat. The Turbokat raced toward Enforcer Headquarters.

T-Bone brought their jet to a hover near the flight line but didn't land.

"Clear out, SWAT Kats!" Came and angry voice from the control tower.

"Look! We think we know who those cats are you have running around your building. At least we're pretty sure who one of them is." T-Bone said. He quickly explained about finding Ms. Briggs. "If you go look where Feral was last, I bet you'll find his ripped clothes. We'll wait until you verify." T-Bone told them, continuing to hold his position.

The tower didn't respond but did report what the SWAT Kat had told them to the third person in charge, a Major Westland. It took only minutes for Westland to receive verification from Feral's personal aid, Sergeant Fallon that Feral's clothes were indeed shredded on his office floor, that the door to his office had huge claw marks on it and had been ripped off its hinges. Adding to that were reports of a huge cat escaping from the Commander's office.

The next voice the SWAT Kats heard on their radio was Major Westland. "You are cleared to land, SWAT Kats. I understand you have one of these primitive cats aboard your jet and think it's the Deputy Mayor?" He asked.

"Yes, with as much certainty as you have Feral is one of the ones running around headquarters." T-Bone said flatly as he put the jet down gently on the flight line.

"Stay aboard, I'll come to you." Major Westland ordered then cut the connection.

A few minutes later, a tall, well built orange tom, came striding toward them with a small group of enforcers behind him.

The SWAT Kats opened their canopy and jumped down to meet him.

"Let me see this other cat." He demanded with a frown of worry.

T-Bone just nodded as Razor opened the cargo doors. The group walked around to the rear of the jet and up the ramp. Major Westland stared down at the strange cat lying in a net on the floor.

He shook his head. "What is going on?" He asked no one in particular.

"It's apparently not the Pastmaster since there's been no sign of him." Razor said grimly. "Right now it's unknown what could have happened to these guys. Have you been able to capture the ones loose in your building?"

"Only one of the beggars. They are smart, cunning and very deadly. The one that must be the Commander is a huge saber tooth. The other is dark furred, about the size of a panther, it's type unknown." The major said grimly.

"Okay, whose missing?" T-Bone asked.

Frowning, Major Westland said hesitantly, "We're not certain but since no one seems able to find Lt. Commander Steele, we have to assume he's one of them."

"What about Lt. Feral? Is she around?" T-Bone suddenly asked, getting a bad feeling.

Westland's eyes widened as a he realized why the tabby was asking. He reached for his radio. "Dispatch, has Lt Feral gone out on patrol yet?" He asked.

"Just a moment sir..." There was a brief pause as the dispatcher checked, "...No sir...her crew reports that she failed to show though she had been seen in the building so is here somewhere." The dispatch reported.

"Crap! She must be that dark furred one we've been seeing." The major said angrily.

Suddenly one of the enforcers ran up. "Sir, the saber tooth has been cornered on the fourth floor." He said breathlessly.

"Let us help you! My gas is probably stronger than yours and our net missiles might capture him without hurting him." Razor hurriedly interrupted.

"Fine, come on!" The Major said making a snap decision. They were probably right and too many enforcers had already been injured for him not to take whatever help he could get.


	4. Chapter 4

**GENETIC TERRORISM**

Chapter 4: Catching a Tiger by the Tail

The group raced back into Enforcer Headquarters. The SWAT Kats got some hostile looks as well as some confused ones as they followed the Major to the fourth floor where Feral was.

Spilling out of the elevator, the major was in front while the SWAT Kats spilt right and left from the elevator. A roar was heard but before they could move, a huge saber tooth raced toward them. Razor shot a gas grenade as T-Bone fired a net missile.

To everyone's dismay the tiger simply plowed right through and kept on coming. Everyone scattered to avoid the fangs and claws. The cat slid past them and into the elevator, fetching up against the wall. Before it could turn around and charge back out the elevator doors closed and began to move.

"Crud! He moves like a runaway freight train!" T-Bone growled.

"We've got to stop that elevator or more enforcers are going to be hurt." Major Westland shouted, reaching for his radio and contacting dispatch.

The SWAT Kats chaffed at waiting but there was no point rushing off when they didn't know where Feral might end up at. Tense minutes later, the Major got the word Feral had managed to reach the lobby.

"Aw crud! If he gets out of the building..." T-Bone said as they piled quickly into another elevator and went down.

"He's going to cause a panic!" Razor finished for his partner.

When the elevator reached the lobby they were in time to see Feral plow into a wall of enforcers trying to keep the huge cat from leaving the building. The saber tooth crashed through the massive door and was charging down the stairs and into the street.

The sounds of cars screeching and crashing mixed with the screaming of katizens drifted to them through the broken door.

"Okay, look...we'll go after Feral but you still need to find Lt Feral. We'll leave Ms. Briggs here so you can take her to your Bio Tech Labs for Dr. Konway to look her over. You should probably get a hold of Dr. Sinian too. She knows a lot about ancient cats." Razor hurriedly told the Major.

Major Westland didn't like being dictated to by the SWAT Kat but he didn't have time to make any other decisions and, unfortunately, Razor's ideas just made sense. He barked orders as he and the SWAT Kats raced for the elevator again and made for the flight line.

When they got there other enforcers were waiting by the jet with a gurney. Opening the cargo door again, the SWAT Kats hurriedly helped the enforcers load the groggy cat onto the gurney. The gas was wearing off so the enforcers raced to lock the cat up in a cell until other arrangements could be made in the Bio Tech Labs.

Once their 'guest' was unloaded, T-Bone and Razor wasted no time jumping aboard, closing the cargo ramp then lifting into the sky.

"Dispatch, can you tell us where the tiger was seen heading?" Razor called to the tower.

"SWAT Kats, it was last seen heading north down Government Ave." The dispatcher told them.

"Roger, we'll keep you informed, SWAT Kats out!" Razor responded then cut the connection.

"Heard that T-Bone?" He asked his partner.

"Yeah! Heading north now." T-Bone said tightly.

"What the heck could have done this to them?" Razor muttered as his eyes kept a sharp look out for the rampaging Commander.

"You think it might have been deliberate? Maybe Dark Kat had something to do with this...nah that's not his thing but it would be Viper's." T-Bone suggested, running likely scenarios in his mind as he skimmed as low as he dared over the streets. They knew they were on the right track due to the string of accidents and running Katizens.

"I'd go with Dr. Viper. It'd be just like him to create havoc before swooping in with whatever plan he has in mind though changing Kats into their ancient ancestors doesn't make a lot of sense." Razor said, frowning. His thoughts were interrupted when they came upon Feral charging down the middle of the street. "Slow up buddy, I'll try to net him again."

"Roger!" T-Bone said, slowing the jet so they could keep just above the running saber tooth.

Just as Razor got a lock on his target, Feral suddenly veered toward Megakat Park and disappeared under the trees. Cursing, T-Bone turned and tried to pickup the tiger again but at first there was no sign of the huge cat.

"Altered and still a pain in the tail." The tabby muttered in annoyance as he searched the park.

"You can say that again." Razor grunted.

After searching for some fifteen minutes, Razor came to a decision. "It's no use, buddy. Cats are good at hiding. I'm going to have to go down while you continue to search from the air." He said, releasing his restraints.

"Yeah, you're right about that but keep your radio on!" T-Bone warned as he slowed his speed and prepared to drop the cyclotron.

Razor dropped into the cargo area and climbed onto the modified bike. Engaging its heat shield, he felt the distinctive dropping sensation as the bike and he sailed through the air and hit the ground hard. Removing the shield, Razor zoomed into the park.

He drove at a slower speed so that he could eye the trees he was passing under. He suspected the cat might have sought the trees to evade its pursuers. For some twenty minutes, neither SWAT Kat had any luck finding the elusive Commander.

"What now, Razor?" T-Bone asked in exasperation at their lack of success.

"I think we should...Crap!" Razor shouted in surprise when a heavy body slammed down on him. He crashed the bike into a tree but he and his unexpected passenger had already jumped off

"Razor?!" T-Bone yelled, as he hurriedly turned the jet back, using the, still functioning, locator signal from the bike to find his partner. He quickly set the jet down in a clear spot, shot the canopy open and jumped down.

He heard a roar and the sound of a glovatrix missile firing. He raced for the site of the noise and came upon his partner now treed and the tiger trying to jump up to get him. The tiger had so far agilely avoided Razor's attempts to take it out.

Coming up from behind, T-Bone took careful aim and fired a net missile then a gas grenade in quick succession. This time they were successful. The tiger screamed in fury and struggled with the netting until the gas finally subdued it.

T-Bone walked up to Feral's altered form as Razor jumped down from the tree.

"Wow! Did he ever put up a fight." T-Bone said in admiration.

"Ugh! You can say that again!" Razor snorted. "We'd better get him loaded quickly. No telling how long the gas will keep him down."

"Good idea. Now do you know how were going to drag some seven hundred pounds of saber tooth cat aboard the jet?" The tabby asked with a frown.

"Gonna have to use the sand cat to drag him aboard. Let's get a tarp to roll him on first." Razor said heading for the cargo bay.

While Razor dragged a big tarp toward the tiger, T-Bone drove the sand cat up. It took quite a bit of effort to roll the huge cat onto the tarp.

"Crud! He's heavy!" T-Bone grunted when they finally managed it.

"Man, is he ever!" Razor panted as he hooked up the tarp to the sand cat.

T-Bone carefully dragged the cat back to the jet and into the cargo hold. They closed the door then climbed back into their seats.

"Let's get back to Enforcer Headquarters. Hope they were able to catch the Lieutenant." Razor said as he strapped in.

"If they haven't, we've got another hunt to do." T-Bone sighed as he took the jet back into the sky.

While the SWAT Kats were hunting the Commander, Major Westland searched headquarters for Lt. Feral. There were many sightings of her but she always managed to elude them. Tired and sweaty, he was in the Commander's office with four other squadron commanders trying to come up with a better way to try and corral the cat. So far, no idea they'd tried had worked.

Before one of them could toss out another idea, shouts, curses, and screams were heard outside the door. The group raced to the hall and found office workers fleeing from a black apparition charging down the hall. Somehow, the Lieutenant had found her way to the top floor.

Thinking fast, Major Westland turned to one of the others with him. "Henry, get the net I left in the office." He shouted.

The officer turned and rushed back into the Commander's office and grabbed the netting they had dropped to the floor. Another officer joined him and together they dragged the heavy net out to the hall. While they had getting it, the cat had run into one of the offices. Now was their moment to try and catch her.

Four of the officers caught hold of the heavy net and held it just out of view of the doorway. Meanwhile, Major Westland and a pair of sergeants went into an adjoining office with a connecting door.

Major Westland prepared to open the door. "Alright, all of you make as much noise as you can and wave your arms. We're going to try and drive the cat toward the net. Okay?" He asked.

The two sergeants nodded and readied themselves. The Major flung open the door and began to holler like a maniac. The two sergeants ran in and did the same. The black cat froze for a second where it stood near the back of the room then it screamed and ran toward the front searching for an escape.

Seconds later, the black cat charged through the door and the group holding the net threw it over her. She screamed and struggled but before she could manage to get free, the Major injected her with a sedative he'd gotten from the med center when the chase began.

It took nearly three minutes to work but finally the huge cat's movements slowed and finally ceased.

Sighing in relief, Major Westland ordered, "Get her down to the Bio Tech Labs."

As the group lifted the heavy cat another officer rushed up to them.

"Sir! Dispatch reports the SWAT Kats have finally caught the Commander and are on their way back." He told the Major.

"Well that's good news. Now let's hope someone can find out what happened to them. I want a team waiting for their arrival with something that can carry a cat that big. Escort the SWAT Kats to the lab." The Major ordered.

The officer nodded and hurried off to carry out the major's command.

Some ten minutes later, the Turbokat was landing on the flight line of Enforcer Headquarters. A large flatbed cart had been wheeled to the jet. The SWAT Kats used the sand cat again to off load the saber tooth then a large group of enforcers with the vigilantes aid, hefted the cat onto the cart.

The group then made their way into a cargo elevator and down to the Bio Tech Labs floor.


	5. Chapter 5

**GENETIC TERRORISM**

Chapter 5: How did this happen?

_Author's Note: I know this is very short but it seemed the right place to end it before moving on to a more exciting chapter._

It was a few hours later and the SWAT Kats and Major Westland were listening to Dr. Konway as he gave them the results of the tests he'd done on the altered Kats.

"I don't truly know how this was accomplished. All I can tell you is what the findings show is going on with their bodies at this moment. Commander Feral, Lt. Feral, Lt. Commander Steele, and Ms. Briggs were injected with something that caused them to devolve to what they might have been at the dawn of time when such creatures roamed. Everyone has a different gene made up of those ancient cats which make us who we are today. Someone has been able to find a way to unlock those ancient genes and cause a modern Kat to devolve. It's an amazing feat and would have taken some years to develop." Dr. Konway said shaking his head, an expression of mixed admiration and horror on his face.

"So do you think Dr. Viper's the culprit?" Razor asked.

"I'd have to say no. Viper tends to use various plant catalysts in his monsters and he hasn't varied that MO. Also, I have no doubt this took years and Viper hasn't been around that long. No, I suspect a rogue scientist." Konway said slowly.

"Why a rogue?" Major Westland asked with a frown.

"Because its immoral to experiment with gene manipulation. There are strict guidelines on this type of research. The Association of Geneticists would not allow this kind of thing to be done." Konway said with certainty.

"Hmmm, then we need to question the head of the Association to see if they know anyone who was interested in this type of research." Major Westland said thoughtfully. "Doctor, do you know if this is a permanent change?" He asked in concern.

"I truly don't know. Based on my test results, they have been altered to the DNA level. I would have to say it is but I'm not the one who did this and I'm not a specialist in genetics. The person who did this may have a way to reverse it." Dr. Konway said with a shrug.

"That's another thing to ask these people then. Can you keep our altered people here for the time being or should we make other arrangements?" The major asked.

"We certainly don't have the space or manpower to take care of wild animals. I would have to recommend asking the Megakat Zoo to house them for the time being for their sake. They'll get better care." Konway suggested.

"He's right. Those cats will need a lot of food and space or they will go crazy and be more dangerous than they are already." Razor said gravely.

Major Westland grimaced. He didn't want too many people to know about this but it might be sometime before the altered Kats could be turned back to normal, if they could be returned at all. He sighed.

"Very well! I'll contact the zoo right now and see if they can accommodate us." The Major said turning away, taking his cell phone from his coat.

They waited patiently as he argued with the zoo director. It took almost forty minutes before he finally closed his phone.

"Though he wasn't happy about it, Director Morrison agreed to take care of them. They said we are lucky. An exhibit cage for big cats is empty right now. Hopefully they can share a cage but I don't know that much about how these cats exist together in their time." He said with a sigh. "We certainly don't want them killing each other." One more problem he didn't need.

Razor spoke up. "We can take them to the zoo for you and you really need to contact Dr. Sinian about the compatibility of keeping them together before we go." He said calmly.

Westland frowned then sighed again, he seemed to be doing that a lot lately. He couldn't believe he was being forced to accept so much assistance from a pair of vigilantes. Whatever would the Commander think of this? Oh well, he was part of the problem after all. Accepting the fact that Razor was right again, Major Westland pulled out his phone again.

Their good luck held. Dr. Sinian had told them the cats would be alright together as long as they were well fed and had a large enough enclosure.

The SWAT Kats helped the enforcers load the four altered Kats into the cargo hold. The group loaded aboard as well to help off load them. Major Westland had insisted on coming along to explain to Zoo Director Morrison the real story behind the cats and insist on his discretion in the matter. He still wanted to keep what was going on under wraps for as long as they could.

At the zoo, Director Morrison gaped at the new arrivals. He turned to Major Westland in annoyance once he'd gotten over his shock.

"Isn't it bad enough we have to house dinosaurs because of that crazy Pastmaster, now this? What is going on?" He demanded.

"These are not from the Pastmaster. The saber-toothed cat is Commander Feral, the small golden cat is Ms. Briggs, the other more tawny cat is Lt. Commander Steele, and the black cat is Lt. Feral. From what we've been able to ascertain, someone has injected them with something that caused this to happen to them. Until we can find a cure, we are entrusting their care to you." Major Westland said grimly.

Director Morrison's eyes widened and he looked again at his unexpected 'guests'. "Oh my! That's terrible! I understand now. We'll do our best to take care of their needs. I hope there is a cure." He said heavily as he stared at the ancient cats with worried eyes.

"So do we. Please, its very important that no one knows about what these cats really are. We don't want to start a panic. If you want to claim they are from the Pastmaster then do so. It's as good a cover as any." The Major sighed, shrugging his shoulders.

"Good idea. That will make it easier to keep it a secret. I will keep a close eye on them and see that they receive the best of care. Don't worry." The Director promised solemnly.

"Thank you. To help you, Dr. Sinian offered to give you all the information she has on these cats from her archives." Major Westland said.

"Oh, that's good to know. Though they should have the same basic habits as our more modern wild cats, I'm sure there are some differences we should be aware of so they don't become ill." The Director said. "I'll ring her up immediately. If there's nothing else I'll get busy seeing to their comfort."

"No. We have to be going. I'll be checking in with you on a regular basis." The Major said turning to leave.

The Director nodded and went closer to monitor the installation of the cats into their temporary home.

The SWAT Kats were waiting to take the Major and his enforcers back to headquarters. A quick trip later and a demand that they be kept in the loop and they were gone again to their hidden base.

It was left to Major Westland to set the investigation into motion. He called a meeting of his squadron commanders to tell them what had happened though there was hardly anyone that didn't know the scuttlebutt about the upper command being turned into cats.

He ordered them to have teams ready to begin searching for whoever did this as soon as he got the information from the Association of Geneticists. He dismissed them then had his secretary try and reach the leader of the Association and get him an immediate appointment to see him.

He made his way to Feral's office and plopped down behind the huge, impressive desk. He allowed himself to slump in the chair and put his head in his paws.

'What a mess.' He moaned. After a long moment of running over everything he needed to do, he sat up and looked at his watch. Groaning, he reached for his phone. His mate would not be happy. He had to tell her he wouldn't be home for a few days. When he hung up from that less than joyful call he summoned an aid and ordered a meal, knowing it might be a long time before he got another chance to eat.


	6. Chapter 6

**GENETIC TERRORISM**

Chapter 6: Everything Hits the Fan!

Jenler flicked open the newspaper and was pleased to see the article on the unknown cat that had run rampant down Government Ave to Megakat Park where the SWAT Kats managed to corral it. The article went on to say, there was no word as to how such a big cat had appeared out of no where though there had been speculation that the Pastmaster was to blame. Meanwhile the cat was being kept at Megakat Zoo.

Jenler chuckled with glee. "It worked......it worked beautifully. Now all I have to do is tell those fools that it wasn't the Pastmaster but me that had done the deed." He said to himself with great pleasure. He looked over the article again. "Hmm, they don't mention the other three but that doesn't mean they don't have them too. Time to get busy!" He said happily as he got up and went to his lab in the basement.

Situated in one small corner of his lab, he'd set up a special high powered radio broadcaster. With this he could interrupt any signal and pipe in his own. He'd made sure to add a disrupter to his signal to insure no one could trace him.

Rubbing his paws together with excitement he looked over his equipment then began to flip switches and turn dials.

Meanwhile, at the Proteus Genetics Research Center, Major Westland was meeting with the head of the Association of Geneticists, Dr. Damiano.

"....and that's all we know at the present time. Now I need for you to tell me who you think might have done this." Major Westland demanded after giving the doctor a quick synopsis of what had happened.

Dr. Damiano frowned unhappily. He had a bad feeling he did indeed know who the unhappy enforcer was asking about. 'But was it possible? The disgraced scientist left more than a decade ago. However, he was the only one doing this type of work.' The doctor mused to himself for some moments before turning his attention back to the Major.

Unfortunately, before he could speak, a colleague burst into his office.

"Gianni, turn your TV on quickly." He said urgently, a look of horror on his face.

Frowning in dismay, Dr. Damiano turned and flicked his small set on.

"........All you pompous windbags at the Association thought my idea was too dangerous and morally wrong to continue.......well I've proven you are all a bunch of frightened sheep. My life's work resides at the Megakat Zoo for all to see. Commander Feral, his niece, his second in command and the Deputy Mayor have all been transformed into their ancient geno type. For those non-scientists out there, it means I've been able to make a modern Katizen take the form of their ancient ancestor. For example, Commander Feral is now a saber-tooth tiger.

Now you'll be asking yourself, why would anyone want to alter a Kat into an ancient wild predator. The answer.........I don't! I am merely proving a point and that is this type of research can benefit Katkind, The applications are tremendous. Just think of it; Katkind could correct genetic defects, like eyesight, boost the immune system, prevent birth defects, eradicate disease, even prevent dying.

Now I ask you, wouldn't that be worth a lot to the ordinary Katizen out there? My subjects are unharmed and can be returned to their normal, modern selves easily and I will do this only after my demands are met.

They are simple; accept my research as the breakthrough that it is, reinstate me to the Association, and drop any charges my experiments may have incurred. Send your response over general TV. I'll be waiting." Jenler finished, a pleased grin on his face as it flicked off screen.

"That's outrageous!!! He thinks we'll just let bygones be bygones for what he's done?" Dr. Damiano objected, his face red with anger.

"But what about those poor victims he's altered?" His colleague said worriedly.

Damiano's anger cooled and was replaced with concern. "Yes, you are right, of course. What do we do?" He asked looking toward the enforcer.

Major Westland's face was pinched in a frown of concentration. "We'll have to try and find him. Anyone know his last known location?"

"Unfortunately, when Alfred Jenler was kicked out of the Association, he continued his experiments using all his inheritance until that was all gone. Where he went after that, no one seems to know." Dr. Damiano said spreading his paws in helplessness. He glanced at his colleague.

"I'm afraid, I don't know either." He shrugged his shoulders unhappily.

Sighing, Major Westland knew this meant a lengthy Kat hunt. "We'll just have to put an APB out on him and begin a citywide search."

The two scientists nodded as the enforcer turned and left them.

_Across town during the unexpected broadcast........._

"Crud!!!! Jake give a listen to this!" Chance said turning up the volume on the TV.

Jake hurried in from their office and halted before the screen. When the broadcast was over, both tom's faces were grim.

"So that's the creep that did that to Callie." Chance growled.

"Looks like it. Wonder if Major Westland has gotten a line on this guy?" Jake said frowning.

"Well, why don't we just ask him." Chance said, flicking the TV off and preparing to go into the hangar.

"Good idea!" His friend said, pausing to close the garage before joining his partner.

Minutes later, the Turbokat was heading to Enforcer Headquarters. By the time they reached the enforcer flight line, they learned the major was away but expected back shortly. Chafing at the delay but knowing they didn't have a choice, the SWAT Kats waited in their jet.

_Meanwhile at an undisclosed location........_

"Well, well.....how interesting...." A deep voice murmured as the owner of it watched the broadcast. "Now how can I make use of this interesting development?"

_Back at Enforcer Headquarters....... _

When Major Westland returned to headquarters, he wasn't surprised to see the SWAT Kats were waiting for him. He had them meet him in Feral's office. While he waited for them, he summoned his squadron leaders.

Moving to the conference room, he had all of them sit down. After briefing everyone on what was going on and who their target was, they spent the next hour trying to brainstorm a way to catch this canny Kat.

It was decided, the squadron commanders would spread out over the city with their teams and see if they could flush out the rogue. The SWAT Kats would keep their eyes peeled for anything unusual as they flew patrol. Jenler hadn't set a time table, so they had time to try and find him. The group broke up and the search was on.

They didn't know they would have far more on their plate than a rogue scientist.

Over the next few days the city underwent a major invasion of enforcers searching the underbelly of the city's more seedier side. So far the search hadn't spread to the outlaying areas as yet. Jenler was smirking at their efforts as he prepared to move from his hidey hole at last after so many years.

Then one night, just a week after Jenler's announcement, someone slipped into the Megakat Zoo. A certain special cage was opened releasing some very dangerous creatures.

It was around two a.m. and a patrol Kat was giving a street walker a ticket for plying her business in a public area on a street corner notorious for this type of activity.

"You know Kandy, this is getting old. This makes the.....what....third violation in a week I've given you? Why don't you make my shift and go ply your stuff at the Rampant Arms?" He asked, long suffering patience in his voice.

Kandy snorted, "Oh sure, as if they would let me in........" then her eyes widened and she screamed in terror at something coming around a car parked behind the patrol Kat's vehicle.

The patrol Kat whirled around and spotted a huge cat with long fangs that nearly reached the ground coming slowly toward them. He gulped and pulled out his laser.

"Commander, sir, don't make me shoot you!" He pleaded, recognizing this as being the enforcers transformed superior.

The saber-toothed tiger growled low in its chest, raising the fur on both the cop and the hooker. Terrified, Kandy made a move as if to run.

"Don't, it will chase you if you run!" The cop said urgently then did the only thing he could. He fired his laser in front of the beast.

It screamed in fury but turned away and took off into the night, vanishing quickly. Badly shaken, the cop hustled Kandy into his patrol car.

"It's not safe for you. I'll take you to the precinct for a little while." He told her as he got into the driver's side. She nodded shakily and put her seat belt on. He reached for his radio.

"Dispatch, this is car forty-seven. Have just encountered Commander Feral on Davis St and Tines Blvd. Managed to scare him off before he could attack myself and a hooker. Last sighting of him was down Tines Blvd. Over!"

"Are you certain of what you saw?" Dispatch asked, obviously not believing him.

"If you know of another huge cat that looks like a saber-toothed tiger, I'd certainly like to know about it!" The patrol Kat bite out, angrily, as he put his car in gear and headed back to base. "I'm returning to base with the hooker for her safety. Better notify the enforcers that somehow the Commander has escaped the zoo."

"Damn! Roger car forty-seven. See you when you get here. Out!"

Major Westland received the call as he was sifting through the search teams reports on Commander Feral's desk.

"Sir, there's been a sighting of Commander Feral downtown by a patrol Kat." Sergeant Fallon said, when he burst into the office at a run.

Westland gaped at him then reached for his phone and made a quick call, some tense minutes later he had his answer. Slamming the phone down, he quickly got up from the desk and hurriedly left the office with Sergeant Fallon dogging his heels.

"Someone has released all of them. No one knows how but now we've got four very deadly predators wandering the streets of Megakat City." He said grimly as he headed for the radio room.

He contacted his special ops teams still on the search for the rogue and told them a new danger was now abroad at night. Then he called a general alert for all forces to report for a cat hunt and, finally he put out an all call to the SWAT Kats. With their special gear it was possible the pair of vigilantes might find the cats faster before any innocent Kats were hurt or killed.

It was going to be a long night.


	7. Chapter 7

**GENETIC TERRORISM**

Chapter 7: A Late Night Hunt

Chance and Jake were just finishing their meal and preparing to watch a little TV when they heard the enforcer radio go off in the shop downstairs. They jumped from the couch and raced downstairs.

The message was being repeated by the dispatcher. "Attention SWAT Kats meet Major Westland at the Enforcer Headquarters asap."

"Great, I wonder what's happened now?" Chance said as he and Jake ran to the ladder leading down to the hangar.

"Guess we'll find out." Jake said as he quickly changed his clothes.

Less than ten minutes later they were setting down on the Enforcer flightline. Major Westland was stalking up to them, his face grim.

They jumped down from the cockpit and waited for him.

"SWAT Kats! Some fool or criminal has released our altered enforcers and they are now prowling the streets of the city." He said flatly.

"Aw crud! That's just great." T-Bone growled in annoyance.

"Wish we had the foresight to put trackers on those buggers. Would make finding them a lot easier." Razor grumbled.

"That would indeed have been a good idea. Perhaps we should do that when we catch the damn cats." Westland agreed grimly. "Anyway, you two take Megakat Park north while my enforcers take the other parts. Commander Feral was seen going that way so odds are good the others may have gone where they would feel more comfortable. At least, that's what the zoo director suggested when I rousted him from bed."

T-Bone shrugged. "As good a guess as any. We're off then. What channel you want us to be on?"

"Channel 11." Westland barked as he turned and made for his chopper that was waiting for him.

"Right!"

The SWAT Kats took off ahead of the squadron of choppers. Reaching the park in very little time, Razor engaged the spotlight and the search was on.

Searching in the dark isn't a picnic but the Razor had a way to look that cut their search time down. His infrared scanner allowed him to see if there were any large warm bodies in the part of the part they were searching.

At first his scanner picked up very small heat signatures, most likely squirrels or birds, then he caught a larger paint on his screen.

"Hold up T-Bone!" He called out.

T-Bone brought the jet to hover mode and waited. Razor pinpointed the moving target.

"Whatever it is, it's moving below us at a slow prowl. I think its one of our cats because its low to the ground." He said thoughtfully.

"How do you want to do this, Razor?" His partner asked, not able to see the target at all for the trees.

"There's no choice. We have to go down to it. If I were to fire a net missile, I wouldn't know if there were trees in the way to ruin the shot. I have a mini scanner on my glovatrix. Let's leave the Turbokat on autopilot and go down." Razor decided.

"Roger."

Moments later, the pair were repelling slowly to the ground since there were trees in the way. Razor opted to landing in a huge tree rather than straight to the ground. T-Bone followed his lead.

Using his scanner, he tracked the large heat signal. "It's just twenty feet ahead of us, buddy." Razor whispered, then began to descend to the ground.

Frowning in concern, T-Bone carefully followed his partner while keeping his eyes and ears open for any sound or sign of the cats they were hunting.

Razor focused on his scanner while T-Bone kept watch as they closed in on the target. A sudden roar caused them to freeze in their tracks then scattered to the right and left when a huge shadow charged from some bushes right at them.

The huge saber-tooth was irritable and hungry. When its targets changed direction, he instantly picked one and went for it, in this case, T-Bone was the unlucky one. He had turned and fired a tarpedo but the damn cat had side stepped at the last second and was nearly on him when a spider missile swept over its body. T-Bone hurriedly rolled out of the way of the screeching and rolling body of the tiger. Its movements entangled it more tightly in the nylon ropes of the missile.

"Crud, Razor! That was close." T-Bone said, catching his breath then something flickered in the corner of his eye. "Look Out!" He shouted firing a spider missile at the small form leaping down from the tree they had been standing under.

Though he got it in the net perfectly, unfortunately, gravity still sent the snarling and now netted cat right on top of T-Bone.

The claws got him a couple of times before he could shove it off him.

"T-Bone! Are you alright?" Razor asked anxiously, while keeping an eye for the other two missing cats.

"Crap.....that hurt...." T-Bone hissed in pain. He'd taken deep claw wounds in his left arm and chest.

"The other two have to be around here somewhere. For whatever reason, they seem to be keeping together." Razor said tightly, wishing he could see to his partner's wounds but didn't dare take his attention off the trees around them. He backed up so that he protected his injured partner. To his relief, T-Bone wasn't too badly hurt as he held his own glovatrix out and was searching.

The pair of cats on the ground were making a lot of noise, growling, roaring and screaming. An answering scream came from their left and both SWAT Kats turned to point their weapons in that direction.

Out of the dark came a nearly invisible cat. Its eyes were the only thing they could see, that is until it opened its mouth to snarl revealing white fangs.

This time T-Bone managed to fire a bolo missile, wrapping the primitive black panther's legs up. It was nearly getting out of it when Razor ran up and injected it with a tranquilizer.

"One more to go!" Razor said tightly as he moved to the other cats to inject them as T-Bone stayed alert for the final cat. Looking at the cats they'd taken, Razor frowned in thought. "I think the missing one is Steele, buddy."

"Joy! Too bad he isn't cowardly in this form. From what I heard, he's actually pretty cunning." T-Bone grumbled.

Finished with his task, Razor once more checked his scanner.

Huffing in annoyance, he looked around with his eyes. "My scanner isn't picking up anything near us now. Wherever Steele is, he's not around here."

T-Bone grunted and hissed in pain. "Well let's holler for help and then go looking some more."

"I'll take care of those as soon as I call the Major." Razor promised as he opened the frequency the Major had given them. After relaying the information about the capture, he repelled back up to the jet while T-Bone guarded the cats. Razor found a clear space to land the jet and carefully maneuvered it there. Landing, he grabbed the first aid kit then opened the canopy and jumped down. He ran back to T-Bone's location and using his helmet light, began to treat his friend's wounds.

The enforcers arrived as he was treating the nasty cuts on T-Bone's chest. Major Westland hurried up to them and grimaced in sympathy when he saw the big tom's wounds.

"Ouch! Got too close?" He commented.

"When it happens to land on you, yeah!" T-Bone grumbled caustically.

The Major looked down at the sleeping cats and frowned. "One's missing."

"Yeah, we know. We think its Steele. My scanner doesn't show him anywhere around here. Now that T-Bone's fixed up, we'll leave you with transporting these cats and go hunting the last one. Hopefully, its not left this area." Razor said grimly as he and his partner left for the jet.

The Major sighed and signaled his troops to begin loading the cats aboard a transport. He hoped they'd find the last cat soon. This time he would have that small SWAT Kat tag them with trackers like he'd suggested earlier. He didn't want a repeat of this.

It took another half hour before Razor's scanner finally picked up the last primitive cat. Steele was near the small pond at the center of the park. When it startled by the sound of the jet's engines, they chased it for some ten minutes before it ran into the open for a space allowing Razor to fire a spider missile and take it down.

While T-Bone had the jet hover low, Razor repelled down and injected the cat then had it winced aboard their cargo hold. Calling the Major, Razor told him the last cat had been caught and that they were transporting it to the zoo.

The Major gave a sigh of relief and thanked them for the fast work and that he'd see them at the zoo when they arrived.

When they landed and the last cat was off loaded, Major Westland made his request.

"Yeah, you're right. Let me get back to the hangar and make some up. Tell the director I'll be back quickly to tag each of those guys before they wake up." Razor agreed.

"Right, that will be one thing off my mind. Wish we knew who had let them out in the first place but the security cam was blitzed for those few minutes it took to break the lock and open the gate. Deliberately we're sure." The Major scowled. "And we still don't have a clue as to the location of that fool scientist, Jenler. I'm not certain what we should do about his demands but at least he made a stupid mistake and didn't give a deadline."

"Only break we've gotten!" T-Bone grunted.

"Maybe I can track his signal. Let me get the tracking devices done and put on our wayward cats then I'll work on trying to find where Jenler's broadcast came from." Razor sighed, prepared to not get any sleep since dawn was now appearing over the horizon.

Major Westland grimaced unhappily. "My communication's guys are still trying to do that but I certainly won't stop you from trying too. Obviously, let me know immediately if you locate it!" He warned before turning away from them and heading for his own vehicle.

Sighing tirededly, the SWAT Kats headed for the Turbokat and flew home.

T-Bone winced as he removed his G-suit and glovatrix. "Crud, she really got me good." He said ruefully as he noted his bandages were soiled and need changing.

"Yeah, she sure did. I have a feeling it's going to look real nasty when we can actually see the damage. Go take a shower and use the antiseptic. Holler down to me when you're ready for me to bandage it." Jake said then turned toward his work bench to begin work on the tracking devices.

Chance sighed and made his way up to their apartment. Jake was going to be really worn out and no matter how badly they needed to find this guy, Jenler, he was going to make sure his partner took a short nap before tackling the frequency search. With that in mind, he stripped and showered.

More than two hours later, Chance turned off the TV and went down to the hangar. He'd heard a cyclotron arrive.

"How'd it go?" He asked when he saw his partner stripping his G-suit off.

"Smooth as silk. All four are now tagged. I just hope they don't get away again. Major Westland put a squad of guards on their cage." Jake said, rubbing his fingers into his tight neck muscles.

"Come on buddy. I know you promised to look for Jenler's broadcast but you gotta crash for a bit. No argument." Chance said firmly when he saw the look of protest in his partner's eyes.

Jake sighed and capitulated. Some four hours later, he was working hard trying to find the signal. His partner had been right, a few hours sleep had done him wonders. Chance was still sleeping and the garage remained closed for the day.

He had the enforcer band radio on in case anything about Jenler came up and it wasn't until nearly three in the afternoon when an urgent call came over it.

"Attention all units! A crowd of protestors have gathered at city hall. All units report for crowd control." The dispatcher said urgently.

Jake frowned in confusion. "What the......"

Chance suddenly came down the ladder and shouted, "Hey buddy! The news says there's a large crowd of angry Kats at city hall. Seems they are demanding the Mayor give Jenler what he wants."

"Huh? Why the heck would they want that?"

"Because of what he said about being able to correct genetic defects. A lot of the crowd have handicaps and they want a chance to have these problems prevented before they happen. Though I can sympathize with them, Jenlar went about his research the wrong way and needs to be punished." Chance said, shaking his head.

"I agree with you buddy but I'm worried what will happen if we or the enforcers actually manage to capture Jenlar. If the public is upset now, when he's in custody......" Jake shuddered, unable to finish the thought.

Chance rubbed his neck. "But what can we do? He's harmed four important Katizens. He can't just be allowed to get away with that."

Jake grimaced. "It's not our call, buddy. All we do is enforce the law. It's up to the Mayor and the courts to decide."

"Yeah, you're right but I can see a real mess for the Mayor and Feral, if he's normal by that time."

"Feral's going to be furious. He'd better not be allowed to approach those people. That would be like pouring gasoline on a fire." Jake said worriedly.

"That's for certain." The tabby said unhappily. "There's nothing we can do about that so how are you coming on finding this guy?"

"Not good! The city is saturated with signals and finding that particular one is like a needle in a haystack." Jake growled.

Before Chance could make a comment, the enforcer radio spat out a new message.

"All units, all units. Subject Jenlar has appeared on the city hall steps. Do not approach...... I repeat......Do Not Approach the suspect. Major Westland is on his way. Keep the crowd calm and contained........Await further orders." The dispatcher warned.

"Aw Crud! I'm wondering what will happen if the enforcers actually arrest this guy!" Chance said worried.

"We could be faced with a riot. Think we'd better go and see if we're needed. I have that foam bomb that can quell the crowd if needed. It won't harm anyone but it will dampen their anger." Jake said tightly as he made for his locker.

"Good idea."

They were soon on their way to city hall. Meanwhile, Major Westland arrived on scene and carefully entered from the rear of the building so that he could talk to Mayor Manx privately and discuss how to deal with this new situation.

Out front, Jenlar was grinning in triumph and answering questions fired at him by the Katizens below him and the press. This was what he'd hoped for. Even if those fools at the academy didn't want to reinstate him, the public wanted what he was offering and perhaps a private company might be interested in funding him and his project.

At the edge of the crowd were the enforcers, but he wasn't worried. The crowd could turn ugly if they tried to interfere. It tickled him to see how helpless they were.

This was his moment......his dreams seemed to be coming to fruition at last after all his long years of hard work. As he answered yet another question, he was interrupted by a dark shadow falling over the crowd.

He looked up in consternation and anger. 'Who dared to try and interrupt the finest moment of his life?'


	8. Chapter 8

**GENETIC TERRORISM**

Chapter 8: And Dark Kat Steps In

Inside the lobby of city hall, Major Westland noted out of the corner of his eye the darkening sky and the Katizens looking upward. Frowning in concern, he left the Mayor in mid-word to move closer to the lobby doors.

He gaped in angry shock. "Oh, that's all we need now!" He hissed as he brought his radio to his mouth. "This is Major Westland, Dark Kat is at city hall......go to alert status alpha.....launch all squadrons asap." He received quick acknowledgment.

Mayor Manx had come up to his side and was shaking with fear. "Oh no! What does Dark Kat want?"

"Don't know, but I'm sure we're going to find out really quick." Westland said grimly.

Jenler was wondering the same thing as he stared up at the forbidding black airship. The protestors scattered in terror. The enforcers doing crowd control, allowed them to pass their lines to safety while they moved in closer to defend city hall.

The scientist was thinking perhaps he should be making tracks himself when a hatch opened on the ship and a cloud of creeplings of various sizes swooped down. The enforcers began to open fire on them.

Major Westland hurried outside to join his troops and added his weapon to the ones already shooting. He made for Jenler but was knocked down by a small phalanx of creeplings that surrounded the scientist and carried him off to the airship.

Jenler screamed in terror. At that moment the SWAT Kats arrived. Razor fired on the backside of the ship making it rock a moment. Their interference unfortunately, didn't save Jenler from vanishing within the ship.

Without waiting for the rest of his creeplings, Dark Kat closed the open hatch and sent his ship straight up. T-Bone sent the Turbokat after him, staying on his tail as the airship raced away.

Razor sprayed a variety of missiles at the fast moving airship without making much of a dent. Dark Kat had obviously fixed his shields to withstand Razor's scrambler missiles. So all they did was chase after the omega until he finally sent a missile that gave the SWAT Kats some tense minutes until they could destroy it. By then, Dark Kat had vanished with his prisoner.

"Crud!" T-Bone hissed, slamming his fist on his control panel.

"Jenler in Dark Kat's paws is not a good thing!" Razor said darkly.

"Oh, I'm sure that's an understatement!" The tabby said sarcastically as he turned the jet back for home.

"Better give Westland the bad news!" Razor said bitterly, as he engaged his radio and got a hold of the temporary Commander.

"Ohh, he sounded really furious and disheartened." T-Bone muttered more to himself than his partner after Westland signed off.

Razor didn't comment. Whatever Dark Kat planned, it was a sure bet it would be really bad for the Katizens of this city. If they thought it was bad having four Kats being primitive animals, a whole city of them just didn't bear thinking about.


	9. Chapter 9

**GENETIC TERRORISM**

Chapter 9: This is what I want you to do......

Jenler had never been this terrified in his life. If he'd been able to read the minds of his victims, he might have had an inkling what sheer terror was like, as it was, he now had a free lesson. He wasn't liking it much.

The flight aboard the forbidding and cold airship was mercifully short. Creeplings stayed close but no longer touched him. He was allowed to huddle on the floor but not move anywhere else. He shivered not just from the cold interior.

He felt the ship land and the engines go silent. From the forward control center, a huge powerful and frightening looking Kat stepped forward. His glowing eyes stared at Jenler for a moment. No expression on the alien looking face. A large red cape swirled around his shoulders and went as far as his ankles, the hood covering his head. He held a long cane and had a huge ring on one paw.

"Take him to my lab." He rumbled coldly to his creeplings.

Jenler squealed in fear as he was unceremoniously picked up again and flown through a huge mountain cave with many tunnels. He was taken down one lit tunnel until they reached a brightly lighted area holding a modern lab. Cages were lined along one side holding ordinary Katizens that stared at him in muted terror. They huddled whimpering in their cages. No one dared to call to him and many bore the signs of beatings. He swallowed hard and shivered, looking quickly away.

He was dropped not so gently to the rough stone floor. A large pair of feet came up to him and he looked up to Dark Kat's emotionless face. He scrambled hurriedly to his feet and shrank back.

"Mr. Jenler, I found your experiment very interesting. I was particularly amused to learn you had altered that insufferable Feral and his niece. Too bad you couldn't have done the same to those irritating SWAT Kats but perhaps you'll get your chance." Dark Kat mused darkly.

"Wha.....what....d...d...do you want?" Jenler stuttered.

"Why.....exactly what you've done already, that's all. Now that shouldn't be so hard, hmmm?" Dark Kat purred with dark pleasure. "These 'volunteers' are who you will use and this is what I want you to do.........." He began to lay out his diabolical plan.

Jenler's mouth gaped open in horror. When Dark Kat had finished, the scientist blurted, "I can't do that! I only changed those four to prove a point. I never intended for anyone else to experience it."

Dark Kat moved like lightning and yanked Jenler by the shirt up to his face. "I didn't ask you if you wanted to do it. I am ordering you to do it or you will suffer untold agony until you do." He warned coldly then released the Kat to land in a sprawl on the floor.

Jenler shuddered and stared around wildly. There was no escape. Shakily he got up and silently went to the cupboards to check and see if what he required was on hand. His heart sank when he saw Dark Kat had not failed to have everything needed for his mad scheme to work.

When he turned back to the lab table, he noted Dark Kat had left him alone. He paused and looked over at the prisoners, who stared at him in angry horror. He looked away quickly, his shoulders slumped in defeat. His only hope was the SWAT Kats could find him. In the meantime, he would take it as slow as he could to delay things. Having made his decision, he began to work.

Dark Kat had other plans besides the one he set Jenler. He walked into a smaller cave that had been converted into an office for him. He flicked on the TV, sat down, and watched the news for a bit then went to his computer for some research.

Over an hour later, he went into the main cave where his creeplings hung out and did the maintenance work on his airship and other chores. He summoned a group of them and gave them instructions. They chittered in response then flew up and out of the cave, heading for the city.

Not too long later, the enforcer squad guarding a special cage at the zoo were set upon by pink creatures with very long claws and teeth. As they tried to kill the things, two of the creatures slipped past them and made short work of the cages newly restored lock.

At first, the occupants of the cage looked warily at the opening. The last time they went through something unpleasant happened to them. Making angry chittering noises, the creeplings flew into the cage and stirred up the primitive cats.

They howled and roared as they tried to bat and take down the weird creatures, but the creeplings were too fast and kept out of reach of the cats formidable claws as they continued to harry them to leave the cage.

Finally, reluctantly, the cats ran out the cage door, constantly prodded by the creeplings to head in one direction. It would take most of the rest of the day but as dusk fell, a disturbed and annoyed group of cats were herded toward a mountain cave.

A huge enclosure waited the cats arrival. More creeplings came out of the cave and surrounded the cats. Harassing them by pinching, tapping rears, batting ears and heads, the creeplings herded the big cats toward the cage. The saber-toothed tiger, however, dug its heels at the entrance and set up a significant refusal to enter the cave. It didn't like the smell.

One of the creeplings flew back into the cave and returned with a short rod. It tapped the tiger on the butt causing it to howl in fury and pain. The cattle prod convinced the tiger that forward was a better choice than trying to resist. It leapt forward and was in the enclosure with the door closing behind it. It roared in fury but the creeplings ignored it.

"Excellent work my pets!" Dark Kat said with a pleased smile on his face as he came from another tunnel entrance to walk up to the enclosure and look upon his prizes. "You'll make an excellent diversion Commander. What irony to have the Chief Enforcer of this city be the cause of chaos rather than the defender from it."

The transformed Feral spit and hissed at the big Kat but Dark Kat just stared at him in amusement.

"Yes, you'll be perfect for my plan." He murmured, turning away. He had some more work to do before his plan could be put into action.

At Enforcer Headquarters, Major Westland wasn't happy to receive the urgent call from the zoo that said their cats had been 'liberated' from their cage. Ready to chew on nails, he got into his car with Sgt Fallon in tow and rushed to the zoo.

What greeted him there made his blood run cold. The sight of dead creeplings told its own story.

"Crap! Dark Kat has the Commander and the others along with Jenler. Now we're really in for it." He growled bitterly more to himself than anyone else.

After ensuring the scene would be processed, he hurried back to Enforcer Headquarters. Instead of going to his temporary office, he stopped at the radio room, much to Sgt Fallon's confused surprised.

"Give me an open frequency." He barked at the communications officer.

"Yes sir!" The officer said then signaled he could speak.

"SWAT Kats, this is Major Westland. Dark Kat has taken our special packages from the zoo. I need you to come to Enforcer Headquarters asap." He said briefly then broke the connection.

He turned to Fallon. "Wait on the flight line for their arrival then escort them to my office."

"Yes sir."

Grumbling to himself he left to see if he could get more paperwork done before he was thrown into another battle.

Across town at the salvage yard, a pair of mechanics were trying to clear the backlog at their garage caused by their frequent absences. Jake's head appeared from around a van as he heard the Major's message. A curse from under a car, told him Chance had heard the message as well.

"Crap! We'll never get done here and I'm hardily tired of chasing those cats." Chance grumbled as he rolled out from under the car then stood up.

"Well this time we won't have to chase them. Remember I just put trakers on them." Jake said with a grim smile.

"Oh, that's right. Well the only thing we have to worry about then is confronting Dark Kat." Chance said grinning as he closed the garage and made his way to their entrance to the hangar.

"I've got some new toys to try against that creep." Jake gritted as he hurried to change his clothes.

Very quickly the pair were airborne and streaking across the sky toward Enforcer Headquarters. Less than ten minutes later they were landing on the tower flight line. As they jumped down from the cockpit, they spotted Feral's assistant walking toward them.

"Follow me. I'm your safe passage to Major Westland." He said before they could speak.

Nodding, the pair followed the Sergeant to the elevator. It was a silent ride. They decanted at the top floor and made for Feral's office.

"Glad you could get here so quickly." Major Westland said grimly.

"Not happy to hear that our special cats are gone again but the good news is I did get them tagged." Razor said before the Major could say anything more.

Westland's face lit with fierce joy. "Yes! Now we can get that bastard once and for all."

"Yes, and I've developed some surprises for him that should prevent you from losing too many enforcers as well." Razor said with a feral grin.

"You have, eh? Alright, then let me get some squadrons gathered and we'll leave immediately. One could hope we catch him off guard this time." Westland said tightly.

"I think it's a safe assumption. He won't see the devices since I only had time to make very small ones that I attached with glue to the base of one of their ears. So, yeah, Dark Kat shouldn't be expecting us."

"That's a lucky break. Let's get to it then." Westland said in relief as he picked up his radio and alerted several troop choppers and six special ops teams to be ready to leave in fifteen minutes. He went to gear up while the SWAT Kats boarded their jet and waited.

When everything was ready, the whole group lifted off the flight line. With the Turbokat in the lead they flew straight for Dark Kat's mountain hide-away through the darkening sky.


	10. Chapter 10

**GENETIC TERRORISM**

Chapter 10: One Less Omega

Jenler was exhausted and slumped over his lab table when Dark Kat prowled through just after dark. Scowling, he stalked up to the scientist and pulled his stool out from under him, spilling Jenler to the floor.

The old grey tom gaped upward then scrambled to his feet.

"What progress have you made to inject our subjects?" Dark Kat rumbled coldly.

"I've already taken samples and they are processing." Jenler said shakily, pointing to a centrifuge working silently on the table. "I can't do anything until the genes have been distilled."

Dark Kat eyed him silently then nodded. "Good. See that you move things along as soon as you're able to." Without another word, the criminal strolled out of the room. Jenler's shoulders slumped in relief. He'd lied. He hadn't collected the samples, only pretended he had. The centrifuge was empty. He hoped they would be rescued soon or he was as good as dead.

The prisoners stared at him worriedly and prayed as well. Jenler had gone to their cages and whispered briefly what he was doing and they quietly went along with it. Now it was a nerve-wracking waiting game.

Outside the mountain, the calvary had arrived. Landing away from the entrance so they wouldn't be heard, they left their choppers and jet and moved in quietly.

Razor and T-Bone had loaded up with some of Razor's new gadgets and lead the way to the cave entrance where the cat's tracking devices said they were located.

Reaching the cave mouth, they halted and listened carefully. After several long minutes, the faint sounds of creeplings could be heard. It was pitch dark inside.

Using flashlights with care, they studied the layout of the cave. They were dismayed by the multiple tunnels leading further into the cavern.

"This is great!" Westland hissed softly to himself. "I'll have to divide up my troops."

"Then I suggest you send a group that way." Razor spoke up softly. "That's where the trackers are and somehow I doubt that's where Dark Kat is. It's probably a containment area for just the cats."

"Why are you so certain?" The Major asked, frowning.

"Listen!" T-Bone said softly. Everyone went quiet. Distinctly, they could hear creeplings coming from a tunnel to the right, away from where the Commander was located.

"Okay, so you think that means Dark Kat is that way." The Major asked pointing to the tunnel with the noises, to be sure he understood their logic.

"Yes. From past experience, he's usually not too far from his creatures." T-Bone confirmed.

"Alright." Westland said, turning to his troops he signaled to each group to take a set of tunnels then he turned back to the SWAT Kats. "I and this small group are going with you."

T-Bone nodded and he and Razor led the way quietly toward the tunnel they hoped would lead them to Dark Kat. They walked for some minutes until they started to see a faint light.

Coming to the end, they found it opened into a large room with other tunnels leading from it. In this space, a lab setup could be seen, prisoners in cages were along one wall and there was Jenler sitting dejectedly on a stool at one of the work benches.

They'd hit the jackpot. Studying the area, there was no sign of Dark Kat but they had no doubt he was here somewhere. The SWAT Kats took point and the group hurried across the floor toward Jenler.

Jenler gasped with relief at the sight of the SWAT Kats and enforcers. He willingly allowed himself to be plucked up by the bigger of the pair and carried off to the cages. Using torches, the pair broke the lock on the cages. Soon all the prisoners were gathered into a group surrounded by enforcers and hustled to the tunnel they had entered.

As they reached the tunnel all hell broke out. There were laser shots being heard on top of roars and screams of wild cats. Over this was the screeches of creeplings.

Hurrying their charges along, the enforcers kept moving forward. Near the cave mouth was a scene of chaos. There was only the light from discharging lasers to see by but what they could see was enough.

Major Westland had his charges stop. "Everyone get against the wall and crouch down. Stay here and you'll be safe." He ordered the former prisoners then turned to his troops. "Sgt Freeburn, stay here with your team and guard these people." The sergeant nodded and took up their positions.

He turned back to the SWAT Kats who were watching the action ahead of them. He joined them with Sgt Fallon.

"Let's see if we can even the odds out there," T-Bone growled as he and Razor led the way out of the tunnel and into the cave entrance area.

Using the lights on their helmets, the SWAT Kats were able to shed light on the battle. Enforcers were trapped in a cleft in the rocks by attacking creeplings. There seemed no end to them. Added to the chaos was the released primitive cats. They were attacking anything in their way as they tried to make for the fresh air they could smell. The creeplings were determined they wouldn't escape.

Before the rescuers could make a move though, a blast from a much stronger weapon flashed the room bringing down some of the rock of the cave raising choking dust and debris. Entering the room was an infuriated Dark Kat carrying his huge blaster cannon.

"Get down, it's Dark Kat!" T-Bone shouted as he pulled Westland down to the floor with him. Sgt Fallon threw himself to the floor to avoid the laser blasts.

From a crouched position, Razor gritted his teeth and raised his glovatrix. He fired an octopus missile that struck Dark Kat dead center and sent him slamming into the far wall of the cave and out of view.

Running forward, T-Bone fired tarpedoes, spider missiles, and a new missile that sprayed mace at the mass of creeplings.

Everyone's ears flattened to their heads from the higher pitched cries of the injured and dying creeplings. Despite the racket, their way was cleared and the trapped enforcers were able to rejoin the rest.

The wild cats made another attempt to try and escape and the enforcers were uncertain what to do. "Let them go! We can track them later!" Razor suddenly shouted at them.

Major Westland seconded that order and the wild cats fled out into the night. He sent the rest of his troops over to the tunnel where the former prisoners were and ordered them to get them to the choppers. While his back was turned the SWAT Kats vanished.

When he turned back into the cave, he noted the pair was gone and thought they might have gone back to see if they could catch Dark Kat. He took a team and raced back down the tunnel Dark Kat had come up.

When they came to the end, they found themselves in a huge cavern with a hole toward the ceiling. Rising quickly toward that hole was Dark Kat's air ship. There was no sign of the SWAT Kats.

Cursing savagely, Major Westland turned to run back to their choppers. When he got outside, he saw the SWAT Kats were already on Dark Kat's tail in the Turbokat. Sighing in relief that at least someone was after the criminal, he focused his attention on getting the rescued Kats and Jenler back to Enforcer Headquarters.

Jenler sighed and hurried with the others over the rough terrain to the choppers. All he had wanted was to make life better for Katkind but Dark Kat had shown him what could happen if his research fell into the wrong paws. He shuddered at what that Kat could have done to Megakat City. He felt sick that he would have been responsible for the disaster if the criminal hadn't been stopped. He would have to rethink his goals for the first time since he started down this path.

As Jenler and the rest of the rescued Kats were loaded aboard a chopper, Major Westland directed a squad of enforcers to remain behind and take care of the cleanup of the cave and gather evidence. They were to finish off the creeplings since there was no where to keep such vicious creatures and they didn't want any to survive to give their leader aid.

Meanwhile, the SWAT Kats chased Dark Kat over the countryside. Taking a page from the Metallikats, Razor sent a relentless missile after Dark Kat's ship. To insure he couldn't shake it, Razor had managed to fire a tracker onto the air ship when it was escaping.

"Stay on his tail but not too close, T-Bone. We want to make sure he doesn't escape this time." Razor said coldly.

"Roger that!" T-Bone growled. He kept the jet within a few miles of the air ship. He watched as Dark Kat took his ship up to the stratosphere.

"Not sure if his ship can handle too many g's." Razor commented.

"Hmm, we'll soon see!" T-Bone rumbled.

Dark Kat's ship kept heading upward until he finally leveled off then plunged down again. There were flashes of missiles trying to hit the missile but Razor had built it with a small thinking computer that made it guard itself from attack while staying on target. A truly evil weapon and one Razor never intended to use again.

Finally, the end came. After trying to outrun the missile every way he could, even going toward the city which the SWAT Kats prevented by cutting him off by firing missiles. Dark Kat lost the race as the relentless missile got closer and closer.

One final attempt to evade the death heading his way by toppling a water tower near the train station only managed to allow the missile to close in and hit its target causing a spectacular explosion.

"At last!" Razor sighed in relief. Though not the type to kill, this time he could do it without remorse. This criminal deserved it.

T-Bone stared at the raining debris of the destroyed air ship without a flicker of guilt. That had been the worst enemy of the city and now he was finally destroyed.

"Let's go home buddy." He said, turning the jet toward home.

"Yeah, good idea. I'll contact, Westland and tell him its over." Razor said quietly.

"Don't let it eat at you, buddy." T-Bone warned quietly, knowing his partner well.

"I'm not. I promise. I'm just tired and relieved. Now all that's left is rounding up Feral and the others again." Razor sighed.

T-Bone groaned. "Aww, I forgot about that."

"I didn't!"

"Then we probably should go get them now. Don't want them to get into trouble do we?" T-Bone grunted in annoyance turning the jet back to the mountains.

"No, can't have that." Razor agreed as he turned on his scanner and tried to pick up the wayward cats signals again. It fortunately, didn't take too long. The cats were probably tired too because they had traveled quite a distance before finally ending up near a river where they were stationary.

This time, Razor had a simpler method of capturing them. It helped the cats were close together. Two were in a tree while the other two lay near each other at the base of the same tree.

As T-Bone passed low over them, Razor fired a canister that spewed a quick acting sleep drug. Within seconds, all four were asleep.

Over the next thirty minutes, Razor went down and wrapped each cat in a net then had T-Bone winch them up into the cargo hold. The smaller cats were easy but Feral required T-Bone coming down to help wrap the huge tiger than both going back up then winching the cat up slowly, but finally, they were done and heading toward the zoo once more.

Razor contacted Major Westland and told him they had the cats and to warn the zoo they were heading their way with them.

Westland was relieved and did as asked. Within two hours, the four cats were once again back in their cage and guarded.

Everyone was so very tired after such a traumatic day that Major Westland decided it could wait until tomorrow to have Jenler change the altered cats back to normal.

As for Jenler, he was safely ensconced in a cell....alone. For once he didn't care where he was. He was just glad to be safe and to get a chance to rest at last. Tomorrow would be soon enough for settling accounts.


	11. Chapter 11

**GENETIC TERRORISM**

Chapter 11: Returning to Normal

The next morning, Major Westland felt immensely better after a sound nights sleep. His good humor lasted until he arrived at work and was greeted by a mob outside Enforcer Headquarters.

A line of enforcers were keeping the basically civil mob from running up the stairs and storming the building. There were placards held by many of the Kats.

'Free Jenler'....... 'Genetic manipulation is not ungodly'......... 'Help our children....prevent handicaps'...... 'We have a right to a healthy future'.......and many others proclaimed the current feelings of the protestors.

He groaned as he got out of his vehicle and pushed his way through the crowd. He grumbled as he managed to finally get to the steps and pushed through the heavy doors of the lobby. Sgt Fallon was there waiting for him.

"Sir, they only began gathering some twenty minutes ago and you were already on your way here, that's why you weren't called." He apologized.

"Alright. So have they a spokeskat among them yet?" Westland asked heavily.

"Yes sir. He's waiting in your office." Sgt Fallon said grimly.

Shaking his head, Westland, followed by the sergeant, made for the elevators and silently took a car up to his temporary office. The doors snapped open and he strode down the hall to the office. As he pushed his door open he was greeted by the sight of, not one, but five people waiting for him.

Biting his lip in vexation, he walked up to them. "I'm Major Westland, temporary Chief Enforcer. What can I do for you?"

"Sir, my name is Henri Fang. I and my friends here want to insure Dr. Jenler is afforded all the rights under the law. His research is a boon to Katkind and we don't want to see it destroyed or lost by careless paws." The slim grey and white tom said gravely.

Westland bristled inwardly while keeping a polite exterior. His CSI were experienced scientists and to say the enforcers would mishandle evidence was an affront.

"I assure you Mr. Fang that my CSI personnel are skilled scientists in their own right. They have taken great care collecting Dr. Jenler's research and storing it in our labs here. He had animals he'd experimented on as well and they are presently at the zoo being cared for. Mr. Jenler has broken many laws as well as committed assault on Katizens of this city. He will be dealt with by the courts. We are only his holding area. Because of the controversy around him, he is not being transferred to Atakata nor Megakat Prisons at this time. I would appreciate it if you would tell your protestors outside that and have them disperse peacefully." He said firmly.

"We appreciate what you've said but would prefer to see for ourselves that what you claim is indeed the case." Mr. Fang said equally firm.

The Major gritted his teeth behind sealed lips. He really didn't want unauthorized personnel traipsing around the CSI labs but this situation was a delicate one. Coming to a bitter decision, he nodded.

"Very well! Only you and two others. The rest must wait here. Security is tight and I want it to stay that way." He said unyieldingly.

The group looked at each other unhappily but finally two were selected to go with Mr. Fang.

Having Sgt Fallon stay with the ones remaining behind, Westland led his group down to the labs. Reaching the labs, he introduced them to the chief of the section and they were all taken on a tour and shown the evidence collected from Jenler's lab. Finally, satisfied, the group obediently followed Westland back to his office.

"Thank you for taking the time to ease our fears, Major Westland. We will tell our fellow protestors and let you get on with your work. A word of warning, sir! We will be watching closely that Dr. Jenler is not railroaded and is treated with respect." Mr. Fang said solemnly.

"I understand."

Nodding, the group left the building and some thirty minutes later the protestors left, much to Westland's relief. Now he had other more important business to conduct. He went down to the cell block and stopped at Jenler's cell door.

"Dr. Jenler, it's time for you to restore our personnel and Ms. Briggs back to their true forms. What do you require to accomplish this?" He requested bluntly, gesturing to Sgt Fallon to take notes.

Jenler blinked at him a moment than sighed. "Just give me paper and I'll make a list. I don't want to waste time spelling things you've never heard of." He said flatly, reaching for the pad.

Westland could tell he wasn't being sarcastic and nodded for the sergeant to give him his pen and pad. For ten minutes, they waited as Dr. Jenler wrote down a lengthy note then handed the pan and pen back.

"The antidote is already made. It's just a matter of getting the right tubes for each person collected then injecting it." He said quietly.

"Will it take long?"

"No, the reversal will begin almost immediately but the complete change will take twenty-four hours." Jenler answered.

Westland nodded then came to a decision as he read the note and frowned. Turning to the cell block guard he gestured at the door and signaled he wanted it open. Moments later the cell door glided open.

"Come on doctor. You're coming with me." He ordered.

Jenler stared at him in surprise but stepped out of his cell. With the Major leading and Sgt Fallon guarding the prisoner they left the cell block and went down to the CSI lab. Grabbing the chief again they went to where Jenler's lab equipment was stored.

"Since it's his stuff, we might as well have him get what's needed to restore our people. Work with him to get it together and let me know when you're ready and I'll have transport ready to take you and him to the zoo. I'll have medicals on hand as well. Any questions?" He asked.

The chief looked unhappy but shook his head and Jenler just waited. Westland sighed then left them to it. He left Sgt Fallon as guard to the prisoner then returned to his office.

It was an hour later when he received the call that they were ready. He ordered them to report to the vehicle compound where he had requested a van be readied. Very soon they were on the road to the zoo. He'd already informed medical staff to meet them there and contacted the zoo director that they were on their way. As an afterthought, he reluctantly sent a call to the SWAT Kats. They had made it clear that they wished to be on hand when the four were to be returned to normal.

Less than an hour later a group of grim faced individuals stood outside the cage of four primitive cats. After determining that a tranquilizer could not be used with the special gene drug, Razor volunteered to fire the restorative shot with the tranquilizer gun due to his sharp shooting skills.

Inside the large, roomy cage there was a huge fake tree in one corner and rock looking ledges surrounding a small pond. Laying beneath the tree was Feral and next to him was Ms. Briggs. Up in the tree was Felina and on a far ledge against the wall was Steele.

"Humph, seems strange that Ms. Briggs is always somewhere near the Commander." T-Bone commented gruffly.

"Heh! Yeah, wonder why." Razor grunted then went still as he got a firm target. It was felt Feral should be shot first because of his dangerous size.

The shot was true and Feral roared in fury, lunging to his huge feet and charging the watchers before falling ungracefully to his face, unconscious, against the bars.

"Whew! Good decision." T-Bone muttered.

The rest of the cats were now pacing angrily. Ms. Briggs had moved back into the shadows of the tree and was growling and lashing her tail. Felina stayed in the tree but Steele had jumped down from the ledge and was hiding in the few bushes that were around the enclosure. He flashed fangs and roared his displeasure and fear.

This was going to be a bit harder but Razor aimed carefully and took out Felina. He winced as she slid rather hard to the ground. Callie leaped in fright then took off behind the tree out of sight as did Steele. Frightened and irritable, the two cats squabbled with each other ending up in a fighting wrangle that sent them into clear view.

"Damn, get them before they hurt each other," Major Westland shouted worriedly. T-Bone echoed him.

Gritting his teeth, Razor ignored their shouting and shot in quick succession the pair of fighting cats. Finally silence reigned. After a moment to insure none of the cats were getting up again, the zoo people quickly opened the heavy gate and the medics and vets rushed in.

Gurneys were rolled in and each cat was placed on one and taken to the zoo infirmary. Ms. Briggs and Steele were treated for claw wounds while Felina was checked for possible injuries from her fall from the tree.

"Now all we can do is wait. It won't be until late tomorrow afternoon until they are completely normal." Dr. Jenler said quietly.

"I guess its safe to take them to the hospital then where they will wake up more comfortable." The Major sighed.

"We'll be there tomorrow at this time to see how Ms. Briggs and Lt. Feral are doing." T-Bone said firmly as he and his partner took their leave.

Westland made no comment as he watched the four cats being rolled out of the infirmary and to the waiting ambulances. Once they were safely at the hospital, he left guards and had Jenler returned to his cell during the wait.

About an hour or so after lunch the next day, Major Westland went to the hospital. When he had checked that morning with the doctors, he was told the four were nearly back to normal and things looked good.

As he approached the room they were being kept in, he frowned when he saw the SWAT Kats there waiting for him. Not bothering to say anything, he went in followed by the pair.

On the beds, four people were sitting up and looking a little worse for wear but were themselves again. The SWAT Kats went to Felina's and Callie's beds and smiled down at them.

"How are you two doing?" T-Bone asked.

"Feeling a little weird. What the heck happened?" Felina demanded.

Razor explained to them while Major Westland told Feral and Steele.

It was a bit much to take in but they couldn't deny what had happened. One thing bothered Feral though.

"You worked with those vigilantes?" He bellowed in disbelief.

"I had no choice sir. If not for them we would not have kept you from harming others, then we wouldn't have found Dark Kat in time before he turned the city into animals. So, yeah, I worked with them. Believe me, I wasn't that happy about it." Westland said flatly.

Feral gave a snort of annoyance but didn't punish the Kat for doing what he thought best. He'd been placed in a difficult situation and had managed to keep damages to a minimum and rescued himself and the others.

"Hey Commander, what's with you and Ms. Briggs?" T-Bone suddenly called over to the big tom.

Feral frowned in confusion at the burly tabby." What are you talking about?"

"Well, every time we had to go hunt you guys down, Ms. Briggs was always near you while the other two just stayed close. This last time, when you were at the zoo, she was laying next to you." T-Bone said shaking his head.

Feral and Briggs' faces burned with embarrassment. They had no idea why they'd done it either.

"I don't know what you're talking about, SWAT Kat." Feral grumbled, not willing to discuss something he was confused about.

"Whatever you say." T-Bone said sarcastically. He hadn't been happy to see that strange behavior either but didn't know if it was conscious or just something that only occurred in their primitive minds. Guess he'd never know.

_Epilogue......................._

The court drama over Dr. Jenler's research was the thing of nightmares for the prosecution. Though the crimes for which he was legitimately charged with weren't questioned, it was his future that was. Many supporters wanted leniency but no way did the injured parties want him to just get off scot free.

Finally in a compromise that was one for the books, the judge finally ruled that Dr. Jenler would be allowed to publish his work but not to include the actual formulas for causing the alterations he'd produced. The theory for using it in gene research was the part that was allowed to be used liberally by the scientific community with him receiving the credit. His position in the Association of Geneticists was reinstated.

To pay for his crimes, he was sentenced to five years in a special cell made for him at Megakat Prison. He would be kept from the prison population and allowed to carry on research but no experimenting.

Jenler felt lucky to have gotten that much. After what he went through with Dark Kat, he never wanted such a dangerous thing to come to pass again. Pursuing his goal to help katkind against birth defects and other genetic diseases was good enough for him now.

As for the four experiments, they had to undergo extensive testing to insure there were no permanent damage. The tests showed that except for some odd dreams and a few left over extra senses they were considered back to normal and released.

That may have been true, but for Feral, Felina, Steele, and Briggs some of the things they experienced as primitives still lingered. Only the future would show whether that would be a problem or not.

End?


End file.
